MAD LOVE MONDAY - Laurel Redfern | Redfern Creative

1. What is your business? Why that field/service/product?

70% of my business is Graphic Design services, specializing in print.

My clients are generally small to medium sized businesses that don't necessarily require a full time designer on staff, but can recognize and appreciate the importance of branding and professional design. Templates and "online" designers simply don't produce a high quality finished product and it's noticeable.

I absolutely love designing catalogues and brochures but that's not all I design. Advertising (magazines, billboards, digital), logo design, flyers, event branding (posters, invites), signs, menus and stationary are my bread and butter. Really, any form of visual branding is what I do best and I will happily defend the position that print is not dead! Clients and customers still like to have tangible things to remember a conversation by, so why not make it beautiful? A glossy product book featuring your best sellers, a fancy wooden business card to leave behind or a thought inspiring ad in an industry magazine are all sure to impress.

The other 30% of my business is Calligraphy. This has been a passion of mine for years and I sell both original artwork and prints through my website. I currently offer a line of greeting cards as well and hope to expand into some different products in the future. I may even try teaching if I can work up the courage! Calligraphy is my love and keeps me creative, inspired and focused.

Everything I do is driven by my desire to create. I have always been fascinated by the idea of creativity, where it comes from and how to foster it.

RedfernBrand

2. What inspired you to start your own business?

I had been working full time as a Graphic Artist for 13 years. Although I loved my job and appreciated the steady income and benefits, I was becoming complacent and getting less satisfaction from the role. It would have been very easy to stay there but the years were flying by and I needed to do something to get my passion back.

3. What is a personal goal of yours?

"I own my business. My business doesn't own me" That quote sums up my goal pretty perfectly. In this first year, I am ready and willing to give this everything I've got to make it succeed. Once I get there, I simply want 8 hours of work to do a day. The freedom to work on something I love inside my little tiny trailer in the mountains is really all I'm going for here. Although this answer might seem underwhelming, it took me a while to accept this idea and I want others to know it's a perfectly fine goal! Goals of global success are ok too ;)

4. What's your best Boss Babe moment? First moment of reassurance?

I had someone request a quote from me on a project I knew I could do an awesome job on. I presented a fair quote based on my applicable experience and was met with "your rate is too high". This isn't the first time this has happened and in the past I would have considered dropping my rate or maybe not even responding. It happened to be the day after the epic Oprah speech though so I just explained my rate. I also noted you could easily find designers that charge far less than me and many that charge more. I spoke to my level of skill with confidence and respectfully left it at that. Guess who called me back and gave me the job? I needed this reminder and maybe some of you do too. Stand your ground, speak confidently and know your worth... then impress the hell out of them because you CAN.

Calligraphy

5. What are you hoping to learn from other Boss Babes in the community?

When I browse Instagram and @yegbossbabes, it's always for inspiration. Before I decided to venture off into my own business, I had no idea this community existed. There is such a massive group of amazing, inspiring and resilient women in the city. In my own experiences, they've always been more than willing to offer advice and suggestions. When I'm feeling crazy for leaving a steady job, just seeing other women doing it makes me think... "hey, maybe I can do this"